Ok. I have had my 2nd attempt at foiling on my 7ft SUP. The first attempt was better than my second due to muscle soreness plus long board SUPs in my way.
Lol. Good mates of mine. I think they wanted me to shorten their SUPs to half size. Lol.
Anyway. Yeah, my 7ft leg leash did get caught on the foil a few times. Mainly the tail wing after a fall. A bit annoying when wanting to get back onto the board quick before an approaching wave knocks you back off because you cannot get into position to paddle out of its way. Lol!
So looking at the right size coil leash for my 7ft foiling SUP. Planning to attach it to my buoyancy vest. If not, then ankle. Or would my straight leash be ok to strap to vest. Haven't tried it yet. Starting to think that may work as it won't go down below the foil.
Waist leashes are perfect for foiling because the leash stays at the surface and thus never tangle with the foil. And also, walking to/from the water is so easier as you do not have to worry about walking on the leash while managing all this gear.
On my belt I use a 10' coiled leash because it is the only ones I could find which seem sturdy enough: the shortest ones are designed for downwind/racing and do not seem sturdy enough. I guess a 9' or 8' could be OK also, if strong enough. But 10' work fine for a waist coiled leash, and I must say I like having the board+foil not too close in a wipeout :-)
HI Seajuice,
I just use my coiled race board/downwind knee leash for my sup foil & my lightweight 6' surfboard leash for my prone foil... I tried the coiled leash on my prone board & it sucked....
Thanks Colas. Might try a 9ft coiled leash. I also have a neoprene back or waist belt that I have used for when I have a sore back. So I can attach to that also.
I ride with the Naish Coil Leash that I modified with a calf strap. It basically doesn't touch the water whilst riding and has plenty of stretch when I need it.
I was using a 6ft coiled leash I broke that and got an 8 ft coiled leash but once is gets super stretched it tangled so I'm back to a 6 ft coiled on ankle . I've always used short leggies in my sups . It stops them from tomb stoning . The longer normal leggies wrap around your foil mast when you sit down , such a pain.
Select to expand quotePiros said..
. It stops them from tomb stoning . The longer normal leggies wrap around your foil mast when you sit down , such a pain.
With a waist leash, tombstoning (the board is pulled towards the surface) and tangling becomes a thing of the past.
Not having the leash moved around underwater by the leg movements makes all the difference.
Another solution could be a waist leash with the new FCS Freedom leashes which seem impervious to fin/foil cuts, and are so thin and light. But they are only available in 6', which is too short for foiling in my opinion, as they stretch less than a regular leash, and are a tad shorter than my regular 6' leashes to begin with.
Select to expand quoteColas said..
With a waist leash, tombstoning (the board is pulled towards the surface) and tangling becomes a thing of the past.
Not having the leash moved around underwater by the leg movements makes all the difference.
I have used a waist leash for 8 years. I use them on my Foil Board and I agree with Colas. I do not know why people still use ankle leashes other than habit.
The waist leash is superior in almost every way. This is especially true in big waves. The people who disagree with this perspective (mostly) haven't tried a waist leash.
PS: Kalama might get there. He is already tucking the leash into his pants. 
Select to expand quoteBeasho said..
The waist leash is superior in almost every way.
I must say I still like ankle leashes for regular waves for regular SUPing, because I can pull the board back to me easily with a flick of the leg (I use quite short leashes), but otherwise, yes, waist leashes are really great.
Not having to worry stepping on the leash while running out of hairy shorebreaks is also a big plus of waist leashes.
Select to expand quotecolas said..
Another solution could be a waist leash with the new FCS Freedom leashes which seem impervious to fin/foil cuts, and are so thin and light.
Well, FCS Freedom leashes are not yet ready for SUP or foil use I guess. I broke mine after 4 sessions only on a low-volume SUP, I would not trust it with a foil. It seems like this is a "Comp" leash to be used in small conditions with small prone surfboards, without a lot of life expectancy.
Moreover, it seems badly designed strength-wise: it broke at the attachement point of the cord to the rail saver, meaning the attachment system is creating a weak point, at least weaker than the cord, the symptom of a bad design. If a leash beaks in the middle of the cord, it means that the attachments were well designed, and were at least as sturdy as the cord.
As I bought 2 of them, I will use the remaining one only on my small wave board on waist high conditions or less.
I've been using this short coiled waist leash, seems to work well.
Not sure where it came from though a friend bought a couple online.
It's probably a bit short and I don't think it would go very well in big surf but I doubt I will be taking the foil near any big surf for a while.
I will have to try to get my hands on another one though as it even works well for the 10'er, never in the way for cross stepping.
Got to admit the new FCS Freedom leash looks like it might be a winner with the foil brigade as it should be a fair bit more resistant to wing/mast cuts.
I hadn't read your post when I suggested the FCS Freedom leash Colas, looks like they have a bit of work to do on them yet.
I hope they continue working on it. The design is really interesting:
- it is less flexible so it does not loop around your legs
- it seems really impervious to fin cuts
- the weave act as a kind of "stretch limiter", you feel the cord stop stretching before entering the dangerous stage where it begins to resist less to the tension and will soon break.
- the ankle strap does not slip, is very thin but comfortable. More comfortable than regular "comp" leashes with narrow ankle straps
- you never walk on it thanks to the long rigid part near the ankle
If they can come up with a way to reliably connect the cord to the straps, it will be the ultimate leash, with maybe a very a tad thicker for SUP use (and longer).
I am using the O&E ONE XT leashes, which are bombproof... but can still be cut by fins :-(
